Washington, D.C. -The U.S. Mint today announced that the new Massachusetts Quarter under the 50 State Quarters Program is now available in bags of 100 and 1,000 coins.

"We expect demand for the new quarter honoring Massachusetts to be as strong as it was for the Connecticut quarter last October when we sold 7 million quarters in less than five hours," said U.S. Mint Director Philip N. Diehl. "Therefore, were increasing the number of Massachusetts quarters to 10 million, but we expect these will sell out quickly as well."

The same coins that are shipped to the Federal Reserve for distribution in commerce will be shipped directly to customers in 100-coin bags for $35.50 and in 1,000-coin bags for $300.00. These Mint-sewn bags feature coins struck on the main production floors in Philadelphia and Denver, and each bag is marked with the Mint of origin and the dollar value of its contents ($25 or $250).

Customers may order the Massachusetts quarters in bags directly online via the U.S. Mint secure web server at www.USMINT.gov and pay no additional shipping and handling charges.

Customers who prefer to fax their orders may download an order form at the website and fax it to (301) 344-4150, and customers also may order by telephone by calling 1-800-USA-MINT. (Telephone and fax orders incur a shipping and handling fee of $3.95 per order.) However, Massachusetts quarters are expected to sell out quickly so customers are encouraged to order directly online at www.USMINT.gov.